According to a report by executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, layoffs by U.S. companies reached a record high in January and February, with the tech sector accounting for more than a third of the over 180,000 job cuts announced.
According to the report, U.S.-based firms cut 102,943 jobs in January and 77,770 jobs in February. In February, tech companies laid off 21,387 people, accounting for 28% of all job cuts. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has laid off 63,216 workers, an increase of 33,705% over the 187 layoffs in the same period last year. According to Challenger data, the tech sector will account for 35% of all layoffs in 2023.
“Right now, the overwhelming bulk of cuts are occurring in Technology. Retail and Financial are also cutting right now, as consumer spending matches economic conditions. In February, job cuts occurred in all 30 industries Challenger tracks,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The Health Care/Products industry announced the second-highest number of layoffs in February, with 9,749, for a total of 16,482 this year. So far in 2023, retailers have announced 17,456 job cuts. In addition, the media industry has announced plans to cut 9,738 jobs.
Considering that the tech sector has been engaging in layoffs since late 2022, the report comes as no surprise. Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet have previously confirmed massive job cuts in hopes of lowering expenses and protect margins in the face of economic uncertainty.
The sources for this piece include an article in Tokenist.